Etymologically
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wolverine

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈwʊlvəˌɹiːn/, /ˈwɒlvəˌɹiːn/[1]
  • US: /ˌwʊlvəˈɹiːn/[1]

Etymology

It is an alteration of wolvering, recorded from 1574,[2][3][4][5] with the ending replaced by -ine.[6][7] The source of that form is obscure.[8][9][10] It is apparently formed from English wolf + -ing,[8][4][7][2] using wolv-, the stem of the plural, as in wolvish;[4][8][2] Barnhart also suggests wolver (“one who behaves like a wolf”), recorded from 1593.[2][3] Klein calls the word irregularly formed and named for the animal's wolfish qualities.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The animal also called the glutton: 1574, in documents of the Office of the Revels of Queen Elizabeth.[8] Barnhart finds the present spelling in 1619, in the writings of Thomas Middleton.[2]

Semantic evolution

By 1596 the word also meant the animal's fur, as in a Lancashire or Cheshire will.[8] The OED notes that it is now used especially of the North American variety of the glutton.[8] In the United States Wolverine became a nickname for a native of Michigan, recorded from 1833, with Wolverine State for Michigan itself;[8] a book of 1835 lists the Wolverines of Michigan beside the Pukes of Missouri.[12] In African-American slang of the 1940s a wolverine was a sexually aggressive woman, a feminine counterpart of wolf.[12]

Timeline

  • 1574 – the animal, as wolvering.[8][2]
  • 1596 – the fur of the animal.[8]
  • 1619 – the spelling with -ine, in Middleton.[2]
  • 1833 – a nickname for a native of Michigan.[8]
  • 1944 – African-American slang, a sexually aggressive woman.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A heavily built, thick-furred carnivorous mammal of the weasel family, found in the northern forests and tundra of Eurasia and North America; also called the glutton.[7][4][10][8]
  2. The fur of this animal.[8][10]
  3. (US) Wolverine: a nickname for a native or inhabitant of Michigan.[8][12]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  12. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com